My first trip report and I already dont know where to start. I guess I can start by saying thanks to a certain TR writer (I won't mention Nebo's name quite yet *coughs*)and all his sidekicks for pushing me into writing this TR. I just hope I can write this TR as could as he can, and hold everyones attention. Of course I will have lots of help from DW. She's the true writer between the 2 of us. I'm just going to pretend that I know what I'm doing. I dont want this to turn into a cookiep-cutter TR. If any of you followed Pkondzs Hawaiian TR, then you know its filled with many cookie recipes.

Patience Nebo, patience. I'll give you credit at the end of this TR. If it makes it that far. Im not as good at this as you are. As many trips as you take to WDW, you would think you wouldve taken one to Disneyland by now. Send the rookies out to DL and wait to hear back from them. Decide if its worth going or not. We do feel honored though that you consider us WDW veterans, although weve only been to WDW twice.

So who are the rookies you ask? Well I guess that would be me (Mike), T-Man as Im known by Nebo and all his sidekicks. Although Ive also been called thumpy, thumper dude and wascally wabbit.

Can you guess which one is me? Im the cute cuddly one.

Then theres DW, the love of my life and the lady with many nicknames. Most know her as Lady H (H standing for her real name Heather). Shes also been called Mrs. T, Smiley Queen (), TMW (short for Thumper_Mans Wife, her disboard name) and what ever other names people have come up with for her. For this TR, I will refer to her as Lady H. This seems to be the nickname that has really stuck with her.

Meet Lady H. She is also the cute cuddly one. (She wanted me to post a warning so you don't get scared to death. So I guess WARNING: Cute lady in picture.)

No these pictures weren't taken on our DL trip. We haven't gone, yet. "Hey Ponzi, quit pushing us out the door. Not time for us to go yet." These were taken on our last trip to WDW in October of 2010. We almost gave up hope taking a picture with Miss Bunny. Finally got a picture with her on our last day there. Literally within our last hour, but that wouldve been another TR we never got a chance to write about.

And heres the 2 of us together.

So now you met the rookies.

Why am I calling us rookies? This will be our first trip to DL together.

Lady H and I have each gone to DL, but never together. Its been years since either one of us has been to DL. That last time Ive been to DL was about 19 years ago. Disney California Adventure wasnt even built yet. Heck, I dont even know if what was even a thought back then.

All I remember was I was young, dumb and full of.................................................................................RUM of course. What were you thinking I was full of? I had just turned 21 that year. I was legal now. And I went with family, so I had to be some what good.

As for Lady H, its been 14 years since shes last been there. Probably just started building DCA the last time she was there.

How we could we be rookies since weve each been there in the past? Well so much has been added and changed since weve last been there. The only parts of Disney that existed back then was DL and the Disneyland Hotel. Since then, DCA been added; as well as 2 more hotels and Downtown Disney. Now that there is more to do and see, and it's taken us FOREVER to go back, we feel like this will be our very first time going to DL.

Which brings me to why I called this chapter, Planning 2 Disney Vacations.
I (yes, yours truly) am in the process of planning 2 Disney vacations for us. Lady H just comes along for the ride. She leaves me to do all the planning. Isnt it supposed to be the other way around? I know all the women here like to take control and plan their Disney vacations. Or at least most do. Anyways, I just have to tell her when and where were going, and how much dinero, moo la moo, yens, pounds, loonies I need.

Our first Disney vacation will be to DLR. Which is why most of you are probably here. Our second Disney vacation will be back to WDW in December. This will be our 3rd trip to WDW (first close to the winter holidays). You probably want to know how DLR will compare to WDW. If this is your true objective, then I will disappoint you right now; we will not compare DLR to WDW. Or at least we will try not to. If we do, it may be inadvertently.

Our objective is to tell you about all the wonderful things we did, and about all the things we wish we had done. And the occasional, we'll never do that again and this is why. Were going with an open mind and really dont want to spend all our time on vacation comparing DLR to WDW. Ive read TOO many heated threads about how DLR is better than WDW, and vice-versa. I believe everyone who goes to each place should enjoy each place for what they have to offer. This is our intention and exactly what we plan to do.

I hope Lady H and I can take you on a magical journey. So grab your glass of wine (you know who you are), beer, fuzzy cup or whatever it is you like to drink; sit back relax and have a good time with us. Hope to have Part 2 up by tonight.

Yes! First one here! It's late, so I'll read the first post tomorrow...

Click to expand...

Well technically I was the first one here. I guess since I'm the one writing the TR, that would only be obvious. I'll give it a little time to see if others realize I started a TR before I send out a pm. Like you, I hope I don't disappoint and lose the audience.

Well technically I was the first one here. I guess since I'm the one writing the TR, that would only be obvious. I'll give it a little time to see if others realize I started a TR before I send out a pm. Like you, I hope I don't disappoint and lose the audience.

Hey, T-man, I don't mind if you want to compare WDW to DLR. Sometimes it's not about one being better than the other, but more a question of how they differ. Differences can be fun!

Rock on!

Click to expand...

I'm sure there will be some comparisons, it will probably be impossible not to compare, however, I hope that our comparisons will be regarding the differences and the new experiences we will hopefully have.

As TM said, this will be the first time in years that either of us have gone, and the first time we will do it together. Thinking about it, we have been to WDW 3 times now, and there are so many things we haven't had a chance to do there...it gives us a great advantage to see this park with newbies eyes, and since we haven't had the pleasure of doing everything at the World, we can't compare and contrast to the Land too much. I think this will be a great way to share our experiences and our adventures into new territory with all our Disboard friends and anyone else who wants to join the fun!

Hey, T-man, I don't mind if you want to compare WDW to DLR. Sometimes it's not about one being better than the other, but more a question of how they differ. Differences can be fun!

Rock on!

Click to expand...

Hi Marie.

As Lady H said, I'm sure there will be some comparisons; hopefully not in the fashion like the food is so much better at DL than at WDW. The CM's are so much nicer at WDW than at DL. These are the type of comparisons I was referring to when I said I wouldn't make comparisons.

We will try to stick to comparing Splash Mountain to Splash Mountain. What we liked on each. What is the same or different as far as theming. And who knows, I may let it slip if I like one more than the other. Though I'm going to try hard not to.

You would think since Lady H and I live so much closer to DL, we would go at least once a year. Or at least more often. If Nebo and Smidgy can drive to WDW a gazillion times a year, surely Lady H and I could drive to DL at least once a year. Right? When you compare it would only take us a little over 12 hours to drive there, compared to Nebos & Smidgys 20 hours; and both Lady H and I can see where were going, surely we could do it.

Ok. Im poking fun at poor Nebo and hes not even around to defend himself. Sure hope hes doing ok.

Anyways, Lady H and I prefer to fly and just rent a car. You waste valuable park time by driving. Plus I need the airline points. Flights to WDW are expensive and we use our points to fly to/from Orlando.

Of course you dont want to read about Nebo & Smidgy driving on this TR. If you wanted to read about that, you would just go to their TR. You want to know about Disneyland. We want to know about DL myself. We still have a little over 2 weeks before we go. Well all have to wait a little longer. What shall we do until then? I could re-write a song. I usually save that skill (if you want to call it a skill) for other peoples TRs. I guess I can tell you how we came about deciding to take 2 Disney vacations this year. Sounds weird dont it, 2 Disney vacations; especially since when we talk about a Disney vacation, we are actually referring to a WDW vacation. Of course maybe not as weird as taking a Hawaiian vacation, sneaking in a day trip to Aulani and calling that a Disney vacation.

Oh Ponzi, come back. Didnt mean to chase you away already. It was a great TR.

Almost every year since weve been together (a little over 9 ½ years now), Lady H and I have taken a trip to Las Vegas, NV. Our very first trip together was to Vegas. Ever since then, weve made it a yearly tradition to go at least once. There is only one year I can recall we didnt go, and that was the first time we went to Orlando back in 06. Orlando would be our only trip that year because the following year, we decided to get married. And to answer this question ahead of time, no we didnt run off to Vegas and elope. Although I propositioned it one time we where there. We valued our lives though and finally decided it was best to make sure to include our parents.

Where was I? Oh yeah; slot machines, card games, craps (the table game) and why we go to Vegas each year. Some years, weve even gone twice in a year. So this will be the first year since 2006 that we decided to skip Vegas. We thought about going this year until I got the bright idea we could probably go to DL instead. Hmmm, I wonder if we could keep the tradition alive. Vegas isnt too far from DL.

Sorry. My mind keeps drifting off.

Last year while we were in San Diego was when we first thought about going to DL. After all, it was only an hour drive from where we were staying and it was my birthday. IF we wouldve had enough money, we wouldve gone; but since we didnt we said maybe next year. Fast forward to next year and we start talking about our annual Vegas vacation and possibly going for my birthday. Which reminds me, our first trip together to Vegas was for my birthday. April is really a good month to go to Vegas. Not too hot and not too cold. Completely forgot about going to DL. By this time weve already decided to go back to WDW. The truth be told, we had decided to go back to WDW while we were still at WDW. Im sure most of you know how that goes.

Since were not going to WDW until December of this year, where could we go for a mini vacation until then? Since Vegas is our go to place, we decided might as well go to there. April is always a good time, so maybe we could go for my birthday again. I know we were just there in October, but we have flight credit to use before it expires and we know its the one place we enjoy going to.

Does anyone else have Rapid Rewards through Southwest Airlines? Anyone sign up for email alerts and travel deals for them? If you do, then you know how it was magically there one day. I received an email alert about traveling to DL. I had totally forgotten we said last year that we could probably go to DL next year, which is now this year. The hamsters start turning the wheel in my head and I think, I wonder if we could afford to go to DL instead of Vegas. Now Lady H will tell you Im the king of the spreadsheets. So naturally, I put one together to compare the costs.

(Use your best Michael Buffer voice when reading this)
Fighting out of the blue corner, this city has been chosen 10 times and is the current reigning vacation destination of the Thumpers. Ladies and gentlemen, the sin city capitol of the world. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA.
And fighting out of the red corner, this city lost out last year due to financial situations. He is 0-1 when it comes to city choices but hoping to pull off an upset victory here tonight. He holds the land that Walt built. Ladies and Gentleman, I give you ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA.

I tell Lady H my thought and remind her how we said we could probably go to DL this year. So I start crunching the numbers, if you can crunch numbers. Let me rephrase that then, I started doing the math and the research on what each trip would cost. I would put all the figures onto my newly created spreadsheet and see which destination comes out on top.

I started thinking, what do we normally spend on hotel, flights, rental car, food and gambling when we go to Vegas? With the gambling money, we can apply that to the theme park tickets. Still have flight vouchers to use from our bad flight to Vegas last year, plus I have enough points for a free flight. Just need to pay for Lady Hs flights. If we stay in the timeshare, then we can eat breakfast in the room and cut down on meal costs and hotel costs. We can push the vacation back to August and go for our wedding anniversary instead. This will also give us time to save up a little more money. This just might work I think (as I pat myself on the back). I present my findings to Lady H and we have a winner.

Ill give you one guess on which trip came out on top. If you need more than that, then obviously you have no clue why Im writing this TR; or why youre even here.

Ah, I get it now. Youre hoping to gather cake and pie recipes.

Needless to say, planning 2 Disney vacations has been fun (well not really that fun) and a lot of work. Im sure in the end, it will all be worth it.

Ill try to get another chapter up in the next couple of days. No Im not trying to get through this TR as quickly as I can. Just trying to keep the conversation going until such time we actually do go to DL; and to Sea World and Universal Studios as well.

Sea World and Universal too you ask? Stay tuned and well tell you all about it.